Burglar-catching and cashier-protective apparatus



J. J. KENNEDY ET AL BURGLAR CATCHING AND CASHIER PROTECTIVE APPARATUSFiled June 30, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 John J Kenneiy Than-11.5 WLSt rqmwm m,

' I 1,640,572 1927' J. J. KENNEDY ET AL BURGLAR CATCHING AND CASHIERPROTECTIVE APPARATUS Filed June so. 1924 2 Sheets-$heet z FIG- JOHN J]KENNEDY THOMAS W. ESTENE j INVENTOR;

4 Q BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 30, 1,927.

onirro STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. KENNEDY AND THOMAS W. STENE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

Application filed June 30, 1924. Serial No. 723,411.

Our invention relates to an apparatus whereby a bank or other burglarmay reachly be captured and at the same time eifec the bank or othercashier from tivelv arotect and at the same time insure bodily injury,

I that the funds of a bankor other establishment handling large or evensmall sums of money may be fully protected.

It is an ob ect or our invention to provide a means adapted to hesuddenly elevated in front of a cashier or other person handling cash inorder that he may be protected from bodily injury by a burglar or otherperson of disreputable character.

It is also an object of our invention to provide a means forautomatically elevating a bullet proof shield in front. of a burglar inorder that the individual handling large sums of money may be protectedfrom bodily injury and at the same time prevent the money handled frombeing stolen.

A further object of our invention is to provide an apparatus in which ashield made of bullet proof glass may be suddenly elevated in front ofan individual handling the cash of a business concern, such as a bank,it being our intention to make use of Sa d compressed air for thispurpose.

shield,when out of use, will have a pro-, jecting portion which will becountersunk in a counter back of which said individual handles said cashso that sa d sh eld, when out of commission, will be pract cally1nvisible and hence not arouse any suspicion on the part ,ofa burglar.

It is moreover an object of our invention to provide an apparatus inwhich the doors of a. bank or other building may beg-quickly andefiiciently closed by means of a compressed fluid, said door closingmeans being capable of being operated by the foot of the individualhandling the A cash.

It is also an object of our invention to provide both a foot operatedaswell asa hand operated means for releasing the doors after they havebeen closed, said means also being adapted to release the shield afterit has been elevate-d. I

It is also an object of our invention to provide a means forsimultaneously elevating a bullet proof shield in front of an individualhandling cash in a bank or other building, close a plurality of doors,and ring a burglar alarm, situated either in the build-.

ing or at .a distance, say,

e xa ple, a

police station,

' pr o iel It is moreover an object of our invention to provide a meansfor pos tlvely holding said bullet proof shield in position after it s ben ele at Q at' may n i advertently drop when the individual back of thecounter is being held up by a burglar.

if desire s d s eld ay be Pro e with a hole through which a weapon maybe pr en ed to a b j fg a ysa i d fo in an effective means'forprotecting the individual behind it from bodily injury.

It is also an object of our invention to p vid a m a s ich m y e f t pra and at the same time may be effective instantly no matter whatposition an individual may be in whereby a bullet proof shield may besud lenl'y elevated in front of him in order that he may be protectedfrom bodily injury by a burglar.

It is intended to provide a foot operated means .of such a character andof such a length, that no matter what position the individual back of acounter may find himself in he may use his foot instantly to operatesaid means in order to suddenly elevate a protective shield in front ofhim.

lit is also an object of our invention to provide an apparatus which issimple in character, efficient, inexpensive to manufacture, thoroughlypractical and which fulshowing i an, enlarged broken detail Viewthe'motor which operates the bullet and the means whereby the motor aswell as the burglar alarm and door operating means: may be renderedoperative. Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the shield in elevatedposition and the means for positively holding itin such position,

I Fig. 4 1s an'enlarged "detail cross sectional view of; the valvemechanism for operating the. motors for the shield and the door ordoors,

Fig. 5 is, a detail perspective view of the means for operating thevalve shown in Fig. 4, and

Describing our invention more in detail,.

the numeral 1 indicates a bullet proof shield, preferably, though notnecessarily made of bullet proof glass, which shield is provided with aflared projection 20 adapted to be countersunk in a counter 3 so thatwhen said shield is in lowered position it may be practically invisibleand therefore not arouse the suspicion of any one intending to rob abank or other building of a business concern. 4

The counter 3 is shown as provided with the usual latticed window 2,though, is obvious, said window may be omitted. A motor 4, placedbeneath the counter 3 or in any position found desirable, forms themeans whereby the shield 1 may be suddenly elevated in front of theindividual back of the counter.

The motor 4 comprises a cylinder in which a piston 5 is adapted to bereciprocated by means of a compressed fluid admitted to said cylinder bymeans of the pipe 19, said fluid being admitted to a valve casing 7 bymeans of the pipe 9. A pistonrod 6 directly connects said piston to theshield 1, though any means for directly or indirectly connecting the twoparts may be used that in practice may suggest itself.

As shown in Fig. 2, the cylinder is provided with suitable heads 28 and29 for closing the ends of said cylinder, the head 29 being providedwith holes 21 to permit the air back of the piston 5 to be exhaustedslowly so as to provide for a cushion to prevent the various parts frominjury upon the sudden elevation of the shield 1. The rod 6 may also beloosely fitted in the head 21 to accommodate the projection 24 whichprojection is adapted to engage with a con ventional form of latch 23,which latch is adapted to positively hold the shield 1 in elevatedposition.

Any suitable means for holding the heads 28 and 29 on the cylinder maybe provided, either screwing same thereon or using any well known formof securing means.

WVires G and G form the circuit of a burglar alarm or other means forindicating the presence of an undesirable individual in the building.the valve casing, and the Wire G is secured to an element forming acontact 0, which element, when the circuit is closed, is adapted toengage with the complementary con tact 0.

A spring pressed valve 39, adapted to engage with a seat 32, is housedin the valve casing 7, which valve is adapted to control the fluidconveyed from the pipe 9 to the pipe 19, the spring 40 being adapted tobe compressed by the push rod 25.

The wire G isgrounded on,

The bar 41 is provided witha lug26, which lug 7 adapted to engage withthe push rod To operate the valve 39 all that is necessary is for theoperator to slide his foot under the bar 42 and give a sudden pres sureupward with his foot. In practice, the individual back of the counterwill have his foot under the bar 42 at all times, and no matter whatposition he may be in at an instants notice he is ready instinctively toraise his foot and operate the mechanism whereby the protective shield 1may be suddenly elevated in front of him.

The device 10 may be suitably pivoted to the floor by any means founddesirable. In the top of the valve casing 7 or in any other place founddesirable and convenient, a valve 38 is mounted, which valve may beoperated by a spring pressed button 37, to be operated by the foot orotherwise. Said valve 38 functions to exhaust the air in the cylinder ofthe motor 4 to release the shield so it may be lowered, and also releasethe pressure holding the doors closed, to be presently described.

Piping 16 conveys compressed fluid from the pipe 19 to a motor 12 whichmotor is adapted to operate a door 11 by means of any suitable mechanism15,- which in practice may take any form found desirable. The piston 13through its rod 14 conveys the movement of said piston to said mechanism15 by which the door 11 is operated.

A conventional form of three-way valve 34 is placed in the pip-e line 16which valve functions to release the pressure acting on the piston 13and also that acting on the piston 5 in the motor 4 to release theshield 1. Any suitable means for operatingsaid valve 34 may be provided,in the present instance the hand operated lever 35 being shown, theshort pipe 36 functioning to exhaust the air in the pipes 16 and 19. V

It is obvious that any number of doors may be actuated in the mannershown,.the illustration being suggestive merely.

The operation of the apparatus should now be clear. In case a burglarshould appear in front of the latticed window 2, and present a weapon tothe individual behind the counter 3 with aperemptory order to hand overthe cash on the counter, all that is necessary for saidindividual to doto protect himself and the cash he is handling, is to raise his foot,said foot being continually in a position to do so. His foot will now occopy the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the device 10will also be in the position shown in dotted lines in said figure. Thelug 26 will press the push rod 25, which in turn will open the valve 39against the spring 40, permitting the fluid to enter the pipe 19 and actonthe pistons 5 and 13. The shield 1 will fly up instantly and form aprotective medium for said individual. The latch 23, engaging with theprojection 2%, will positively hold said shield in elevated position,preventing accidental lowering of said shield, should the pressure ofthe fluid suddenly fail for some reason. At the same time the door ordoors of the building will be closed, preventing the escape of theburglar. Simultaneously with the above noted operation, a circuit willbe made between the contacts 0 and 0, giving the necessary alarm.

It will thus be seen that not onl will the burglar be captured but anypossi le injury to the individual handling the cash will be avoided,effectively guarding against monetary loss of the bank or other businessconcern. 1

After the burglarhas been taken into custody, the shield may be quicklylowered by releasing the catch 23, the operator at the same timepressing his foot on the button 37 or using his hand to operate thelever 35. This, as has been explained, will exhaust the air from thepipes 16 and 19, lowering the shield and permitting the doors to beopened.

It will be obvious that we have provided an apparatus which willthoroughly protect the funds of a bank or other business concern and atthe same time effectively protect any individual in said bank frombodily injury and insure that the burglar may be captured forthwith, itbeing impossible for him to escape.

It will also be clear that our apparatus may be varied throughout a widerange, and that numerous modifications thereof may be made. We thereforedo not ropose to be limited to the exact details 0 construction shownand described, but reserve the right in,

practise to make any and all modifications claims.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described wherein a building is equippedwith auto matically operated means for fastening the doors and windowsthereof and a burglar alarm sounded so that a burglar may be captured,the combination of a counter, a bullet proof shield slidably associatedwith said counter, a projection on the upper portion of said shield,said counter being equipped with a countersunk portion for receivingsaid projection when said shield is in lowered position so that saidshield may be concealed, a motor for elevating said shield, and meansfor operating said motor, said means comprising an inclined rectangularframe and means for holding said frame in inclined position whereby saidmotor may be caused instantly to function by reason of the suddenelevation of the operators foot.

2. In an apparatus of the class described wherein a fluid pressure motoris adapted to lift suddenly a bullet proof shield above a counter, saidcounter being equipped with a slot and a countersunk portion associatedtherewith for permitting the passage of said shield, lateral projectionson the top of said shield adapted to be positioned on said countersunkportion when said shield is'in lowered position so that said shield willbe substantially invisible in said position, means associated with saidmotor and said shield, and in direct alignment therewith whereby saidshield maybe slidably lifted, a valve for controlling said motor, arectangular frame juxtaposed to said valve, meansvon said frame foroperating said valve, means on said frame whereby the elevation of thefoot of the operator may cause sald frame to operate said valve, and

fluid pressure relief means associated with said Valve whereby saidshield may be lowered.

JOHN J. KENNEDY. THOMAS w. STENE.

